E3 2011: Microsoft conference: Live blog

18:59: And we're done! Join us in 90 minutes for Electronic Arts. See you then!

18:58: One more thing before we go. It's the start of a new trilogy on Xbox 360. Bursting out of cryostasis, Master Chief launches his way through an exploding ship on a jetpack, before looking out on a mysterious planet. Guessed it yet? It's Halo 4, out Holiday 2012.

18:55: Don Mattrick comes back on-stage. He wraps up the conference by selling the strengths of Kinect, Bing and various blockbuster titles.

18:52:Dance Central 2 is announced. It'll feature voice control, a campaign mode, two-player and a revamped 'Break it Down' mode. All songs and DLC from the original Dance Central can be imported into the game.

18:50:Kinect Sports Season Two appears on stage; Snowboarding, Golf, Darts, Tennis and American Football are just some of the mini-games it'll ship with. Golf is shown off. Gestures can view the course beforehand, while voice commands can change clubs. Swinging your arms will obviously go for the ball.

18:47: Another tool allows players to scan physical items into the game to create 3D objects. Kinect FunLabs will go live later today.

18:44: It can use a player's appearance to create an Avatar, while finger tracking technology allows players to draw on-screen. Players can take figures to create foreground and background images, then draw in 3D space.

18:41: Now for everyone's favorite Kinect spokespeson, Kudo Tsunoda! He announces Kinect FunLabs, a suite of tools that'll be available as a permanent part of the Xbox Live dashboard and is free for all members.

18:37: Tim Schafer is welcomed on stage to introduce Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. One stage sees players interact with fireflies by waving their arms and marching on the spot with a monster. It's pretty cute, and out of all the non-core Kinect games, appears to be the most suited to the device. It's out this year exclusively for Xbox 360.

18:32:Kinect Star Wars is shown, showing vehicular scenes from all six movies before a playable demo. As a jedi, the player swings their arms to take out several enemies, before reaching out with open palms to lift an object out of the way. Physically leaping to an area below, oncoming fire is deflected with simple, bold arm swings. Between groups of enemies, it looks like the player will automatically boost forward before fighting again.

18:29: Now a few Disney games. First is Kinect Disneyland Adventures, which sees Disney World in Florida recreated in-game and explorable with Kinect. Also shown is a Peter Pan mini-game where players can fly through caves and over rivers using their arms.

18:28:Minecraft is coming to Xbox 360, with Kinect support, this winter. Never saw that coming!

18:26: It's essentially a Kinect-controlled rail shooter. The cart moves through the forest, with the player flying their arms at enemy Hobs littered around. Drawing circles and lines creates new magic spells, and soon the player jumps off and heads through a camp on foot. One magic attack sees the view point zoom to a distant tower and strike an enemy straight on the head. The demo ends. It's out 2012.

18:24: Peter Molyneux comes on stage to introduce Fable: The Journey. The pre-rendered trailer sees a woman running through a forest with a dark smoke chasing her. Jumping into a passing cart, it's said that the world of Albion is at an end.

18:22:Forza Motorsport 4 is shown. Kinect support confirmed, with 16 player races, over 80 car manufacturers, and courses set in many worldwide locations. It's dated for October 11.

18:20: Here's one of today's earlier leaks; the original Halo. It's going to be remade and remastered, and it scrubs up rather well. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition will offer a co-operative campaign, seven multiplayer maps, and will launch on November 15.

18:17: Now for Crytek's game that was announced last year. The pre-rendered trailer shows literal backstabbing and a Rome under siege. It then cuts to first-person mode. Players can use their arms to slash away at soldiers, and rather wonderfully, headbutt. It's called Ryse.

18:15: On the surface of the ship, team members climb into mechs and work their way towards the beast, who is lashing tentacles across the deck. There are plenty of parts - shooting at crates, tickers - before the company leg it off the side of the ship as the beast explodes, ending the demo.

18:13: Cliffy B comes on stage with Ice T, who supplies a voice in the game. The campaign demo sees Fenix and company stranded in the middle of the ocean on a ship, fighting off an infected sea creature.

18:11: Back to games. The following selection is Xbox 360 exclusive, and starting us off is Gears of War 3. Shown on screen is last month's campaign trailer.

18:07: Also announced is Live TV. Sky in the UK will be one partner, for example, and more on this will come later in the year. UFC will also be shown live through the console.

18:04: New partners and millions of media items will be coming to Xbox 360. YouTube will be coming to the platform. Also shown is Bing, which will be a search bar to look on the Marketplace. Saying "Xbox Bing X-Men" will bring up games and movies in the franchise, for example.

18:02: Now we're onto entertainment and the latest Xbox experience, optimised for voice control. It features Windows Phone 7 style panels, all organized on separate screens for Games, Video and Music.

18:01: All future Tom Clancy's titles will use Kinect functionality.

17:59: Kinect can be used in the Gun Smith mode. Over 20 million parts can be put together to create custom gun combinations using either gesture or voice. Saying "optimise for close combat" and "randomize" produces new results on the fly. It can also be used in a hands-free testing range. The left hand aims while the right can fire when changing from closed fist to open palm. It looks a little inaccurate, as you can imagine.

17:57: Next up is another rumor we've heard plenty about; Ghost Recon: Future Solder and Kinect. The cutscene shows a breach frozen in time, with the camera moving throughout a building as bodies are flying through the air.

17:55: It can also be used in combat for formations and spells, such as saying "Garrus Move Up". Combat looks far faster and snappier than what we've seen previously. The demo ends with a robot dropping through the ceiling. There'll be more shown at the Electronic Arts press briefing at 8:30pm BST.

17:53: Shepard meets up with Mass Effect 2 favorite Mordin. It's a cutscene, and dialog options are read out instead of selected on the controller. It's done live on stage and it looks to work with no hitches.

17:51: BioWare comes on stage. It's time for Mass Effect 3. It's being dubbed as a "whole new adventure" with Earth being taken by the Reapers. This is the fourth Kinect enabled game, and will use voice - not motion - for a more immersive experience.

17:50: EA Sports president Peter Moore comes on stage. Four EA games will feature Kinect support this year; Tiger Woods, Madden, FIFA and one other title being announced shortly.

17:49: Running ahead, she runs through a collapsing tunnel and over several chasms. The dark art style of the reboot is fantastic, and not at all like how the old Tomb Raider games used to look and feel. Fending off the man once more, she makes it to the surface, ending the demo. It's out in late 2011.

17:46: Lara continues talking to herself as she makes her way through the caves. A quick-time event sees off a man who tries to capture her again. Inside a huge space, Lara grabs a torch and works her way through a series of suspended cages.

17:43:Tomb Raider is now given a live demo. Lara Croft is held captive within a cave. Strung upside down and bound, she has to swing side by side so the above rope catches on fire. Falling down below, she lands with a blood curling scream and pulls debris out of her leg. On her feet, she investigates a strung up body. "Oh my god, what did she do to you?" says Lara.

17:41: Xbox president Don Mattrick is welcomed to the stage. He says he'll show the hottest blockbusters, new Kinect titles and TV connectivity. But first, games.

17:39: Everything is timed to perfection; jets roar overhead, the submarine's missiles launch into the air, and ships all around explode from bombing runs. Traveling alongside the coast, the scuba team jump into a helicopter and take off with Manhattan insight, ending the demo. Huge applause from the audience. To be fair, it looks fantastic.

17:36: In the interests of time, the demo skips forward. Planting a charge on the door, the player then takes part in a slow-motion breach, gunning down those within the command center. Running to a console, the player activates a missile launch before heading up and out of the sub and into a zodiac.

17:35: Swimming onwards, the player plants mines on the side of the submarine and swims away before it explodes. Surfacing above, you can see the New York skyline in flames, with missiles smashing into skyscrapers and choppers flying past. It looks staggering. The submarine surfaces and the scuba team run up the side and into a hatch, before clearing out the tunnels inside.

17:33: Resuming again, the first-person scuba section has the player worm their way through wreckage and a murky sea floor. Following a giant pipe, a ship ahead slowly sinks in front and down into the murky depths. Shortly onward, the group of divers wait as a screen-filling submarine roars overhead and into the distance.

17:31: We're live! After a polite welcome, we move straight to Modern Warfare 3. The mission is called 'Killer Killer' and it sees two scuba divers blowtorch their way through some wreckage. And then the controller disconnects and the demo pauses. Welcome to E3!

17:00: Welcome to the live blog for Microsoft's E3 2011 conference. While Nintendo and Sony have new hardware details to unveil, Microsoft looks to be all about the games; rumors suggest Halo 4, new Fable and Alan Wake titles, plus plenty of new Kinect software. We'll find out everything when the event begins in 30 minutes' time at 5.30pm BST / 2.30pm EST / 9.30am PST.